Senator Mark Arbib who resigned yesterday has some serious questions he needs to answer in relation to his own shady financial dealings and more importantly his involvement in the Craig Thomson HSU fraud case.

The reasons he gave for his resignation do not cut it when you know what is happening in the background. He said that he resigned so the Labor party could help heal and for family reasons. This is garbage as he would be well aware his involvement and close association with Craig Thomson and HSU President Michael Williamson was about to come under close scrutiny.

Only last week John Gilleland, the printer accused of bribing Mr Thomson and Mr Williamson, had his house raided by police. (Click here to read) How did the media know? The police probably let it be known to see whose cage it would rattle and it looks like Mr Arbib was the first taker.

Obviously Mark Arbib would highly likely be a person of interest to the police and would have to be a good chance of at least being questioned by them as the rest of this post shows.

The Craig Thomson affair will move into overdrive in the next few weeks and months as the Victorian and NSW Police investigations start to dig deeper and Fair Work Australia reluctantly takes action.

Mark Arbib’s own financial dealings were raised last year in an article by Kate McClymont at the SMH where she starts off “The sale of land for $1, mysterious donors, property developers bankrolling a company of an MP’s son, union officials getting mining deals – welcome to the NSW Right where connections are crucial.”

It is a must read and raises questions about whether or not Mark Arbib received beneficial pricing when he bought a unit in Maroubra in the same block as another Labor boy Eric Roozendaal.

It then says “Neither has been able to explain what coincidence led to them purchasing boutique beachside apartments not only in the same suburb but also in the very same block.”

And goes on to say “Meanwhile, questions have been raised in Labor circles as to whether Mr Arbib, the federal Sports Minister, was receiving an undisclosed benefit by not paying rent when staying in Canberra during parliamentary sitting days.”

“During 2007 to 2009, Mr Arbib stayed in Alexandra Williamson’s two-bedroom apartment in Forrest. Ms Williamson, a staffer in the office of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, is the daughter of Mr Arbib’s and Mr Roozendaal’s close friend, embattled Health Services Union boss Michael Williamson, who is the subject of a police investigation.” Like I said the article is a must read.(Click here to read)

A quick recap on the Craig Thomson scandal for those who have not been following it closely, which is best set out on Wikipedia:

“In December 2008, the Health Services Union (HSU) requested its lawyers to retain forensic accountants to investigate allegations of impropriety around Thomson’s use of a union-issued corporate MasterCard. Specifically, there were accusations that Thomson had used the credit card to: make payments to three companies which provide or facilitate prostitution and escort services in Sydney; make payments for goods and services consumed by Thomson personally; and to withdraw $101,533 in cash. The HSU further suggested that Thomson had used the credit card to finance his election campaign in a manner which would breach Australian electoral law. For his part, at that time Thomson denied all allegations of wrongdoing, stated that an independent audit had not identified any inappropriate use of the card, noted that other people would have been able to incur charges on the account and claimed the accusations had been fabricated by rivals within the HSU.”

“The union’s accusations were reported by The Sydney Morning Herald in April 2009.In response, Thomson initiated defamation proceedings against both the Health Services Union and against the publisher of the Herald, Fairfax Media. In pretrial proceedings in the New South Wales Supreme Court, Fairfax Media claimed that subpoenaed records showed that details of Thomson’s driver’s license had been noted on the credit card receipt, that phone records showed that Thomson’s phone had been used to call two phone numbers associated with a Sydney escort agency and that mobile phone records showed that Thomson had travelled from his constituency to Sydney on one of the nights on which one of the impugned charges to the credit card had been made.”

“Thomson continued to deny accusations of impropriety and Fairfax Media’s claims were never tested or proven at trial: shortly before the defamation trial was due to begin in April 2011, a notice of discontinuance was filed on Thomson’s behalf with the New South Wales Supreme Court. Thomson claimed that he had reached an out-of-court settlement with Fairfax Media and continued to deny any allegation of impropriety made against him; Fairfax Media claimed that Thomson had “dropped” the case and maintained all allegations made against him. It was subsequently revealed that the Australian Labor Party had contributed towards Thomson’s legal costs in the actions.” (It was actually the NSW ALP that paid Mr Thomson’s legal bill and Mark Arbib has admitted that he is the one who negotiated the deal.)

“In a radio interview in August 2011, (with Mike Smith) Thomson stated that he had approved payments made by the Health Services Union to a Sydney escort agency but denied having used the card to pay for prostitution. Rather, he said, another man (who he declined to identify) had used his credit card to pay for escort services and may have forged Thomson’s signature in the process and produced a copy of his photo drivers licence as identification; he claimed that unidentified man had subsequently repaid $15,000 to the Health Services Union.”

So lets look at some of the facts:

1. Mark Arbib has been living in Canberra with, Alexandra Williamson, the daughter of the HSU President Michael Williamson who is being investigated by the police. Ms Williamson is a staffer in the office of the Prime Minister Julia Gillard. I have to wonder why she has not resigned or why Gillard has not gotten rid of her, maybe Mr Arbib has had something to do with that.

3. Mark Arbib has some serious questions to answer in relation to the unit he bought in Maroubra. It is very strange indeed. Like what price did he pay and was he given a discount?

4. If Craig did steal from the HSU (which everyone in the country knows he did) could the legal fees paid by the NSW ALP be seen as an attempt to conceal a crime. definitely worth a close look at by the police.

5. We all know that FWA has been deliberately delaying their investigation into Craig Thomson. Given that it is ex-union officials at FWA doing the investigation has Mark Arbib used his union contacts to help delay the investigation on behalf of his mates Craig Thomson and Michael Williamson. Another good question the police should be asking.

In other news at FWA, Bill Shorten has just appointed another union crony as its president, Iain Ross.

Iain Ross is an ex ACTU official and this it what I quoted in a previous post:

“Among those appointed to the bench last week were high-profile Melbourne barrister and human rights advocate Lex Lasry who will sit on the Victorian Supreme Court and former ACTU assistant secretary and Labor Party member Iain Ross to the County Court.”

“However, Clark was less than impressed with the appointment of Ross.”

“Mr Ross has very little practical experience. He appears to have practised barely 20 months as a solicitor; prior to that his career was as an assistant secretary of the ACTU and then as a member and vice-president of the Industrial Relations Commission. The Victorian County Court has negligible industrial relations practice and Mr Ross appears to have negligible experience of general court practice in Victoria,” Clark said.” (unfortunately the page at Lawyers Weekly has gone so I can not put a link to it here) (But for the dodgy judicial appointments post I did click here)

Bill Shorten is starting to get some form on the board for dodgy appointments as only two weeks ago I did a post on him titled “Bill Shorten appoints two stooges to review the Fair Work Act.” (Click here to read)

It must be remembered when Julia Gillard was Deputy PM she was also the minister for Workplace Relations and she herself was stacking the bench at FWA with Labor party cronies. If you are new to this site a previous post is essential reading titled “Julia Gillard who admitted helping rip off the AWU of over $1million stands by and supports Craig Thomson who is accused of ripping off the Health Services Union. The Australian Labor Party, beautiful one day, perfect the next.” (Click here to read)

Unions make up about 17% of the workforce but Labor have appointed about 90% of the people to FWA with union backgrounds. Makes you wonder does it not, they are that corrupt they just do not care.

Given that the NSW Police originally refused to investigate Craig Thomson (a bit like FWA) I think we should help them out with Mr Arbib. In the comment section try to come up some questions that the police should ask Mr Arbib like I have above.

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I think that there will be a land slide of Bad Kama coming down the mountain towards these unsavory characters.

I was always under the opinion (untill I turned 18 yrs old), that the Labor party Grew out of the Union movement, to give the blue collared workers a voice in the Halls of Power!
But this past 3 to 4 years have realy shown up just what the Union Movement is.
It is and has been treated by those who have access to it as a slush-fund for their own personnel gains.

I think it is time that a complete and though examination was done on each set of Union Books in this country. And that Legislation be introduced to prevent the moneys of the working class being used for all and sundry whims and fantasies of these sort of people.

Well said Gerald on the1st March. I have been punching semi -trailers around since the early 70’s and have seen first hand the corruption in union practises but I was forced to belong to the entity. As long as money is forthcoming from the union at election time two blind eyes are turned not just one. It’s only when you become a rogue union that the government will proceed against them, remember Norm Gallaghers beach house.
As with the downfall of Norm’s Builders Labourers Federation it was the paper trail that lead to his downfall
This is the way to put the unholy trinity of Arbib, Thomson and Williamson, add a newspaper publisher to that list, in the dock.
As this is a white collar crime I suggest that the Forensic Accountants of the firm of KPMG to work and turn the findings over to the relevant authorities. On second thoughts I just remembered what happened to ex NSW police commissioner Peter Ryan. When he suggest that, the then police minister, the Honourable Michael Costa sacked him!
Perhaps we can follow the progress of the investigation through the HSU’s own newsletter after the police have finished with it.

Mr Arbib, please disclose all dealings, including financial transactions, with the HSU, Craig Thomson and Michael Williams.
I have answered that question previously……. I have answered that in previous responses…….. I have given you the answer I am prepared to give.

Well said Ken.The Labor party in this country is so right wing that the Liberals have to pinch their policies.The Labor party both state and federal have realised that trying to protect the rights of the poor and powerless is no longer neccesary because they know they can not afford to vote for the other party because they will end up with another John Howard type.
The lack of accountability in the parliaments could be addressed by the appointment of “Integrity Officers” with powers of a royal commissioner to police the criminal activities of our elected officials,something that the Federal Police will not have anything to do with as it may affect career appointments to nice little sinecures such as overseas appointments.
The audit of Union accounts may not work, as they are represented by law firms such as Julia Gillard at Slater& Gordon,remember the Julia and Brian Wilson affair both physical and professional, as in the “where did the million bucks go?” Another case of the “Amnesia Assizes” of “I can’t remember”.
The basic problem with our political parties is the Labor party comprises of ex solicitors,ex real estate agents and dodgy union leaders and the Liberal party consists of ex solictors.ex real estate agents and Masons who went to the right schools.Our society is made up of Doctors, Engineers,Teachers,Accountants,Nurses,Social Workers and Academics of all types but none are represented in our system of government.What we do have are a bunch of sociopaths who crave the power and trapings of high office.They care nothing about the people who they purport to represent,it’s the people who can enhance their power through political appointments for previous favours rendered and shady deals done in back rooms that they court.
In answer to Shane’s question about what should the police ask the “Honourable member” that would merely result in lies and subdefuge on his part,a more productive path would be to follow the paper trail,as is happening in the down fall of the “Honourable Member”Thomson(when he finally gets the boot he will just become a lobbist and make more money than he is now and not have to account for it).
Got to now as I need more Gin.

SMH has written an article of Mr Arbib stipulating the reasoning behind his resignation is linked to Julia Gillard’s defeat of Kevin Rudd and no mention of the Craig Thomson Affair. Great to see you are getting the information out there Shane, it is vital!! great work!

I think they real key is to ask him about the unit in Marouba. The ALP has long had attachments to property developers in NSW and if he has got it at a substantial discount that would be enough for the NSW Govt to direct the anti corruption commission to investigate.

There might be issues around Thompson but the property deal is the one to start with as it is clear cut once we know the price he paid.

Probably the creative mind of Arbib was the one behind Kevin’s set up? Is Gillard like Thatcher “the Iron Lady”? No, she is the TITANIUM Lady, can not be scratched but when bent it brakes … She is getting with the “job at hand” so many times that is the only thing she says, in few words she always “means what she does not say but never says what she means”, never speculates about two Cabinet Ministers less. The truth is this: Kevin Rudd was brilliantly set up to fall in a political master’s trap as follow: Julia instructed some of her most devoted eunuch Ministers to provoke Rudd to react to their public abuses well orchestrated to affect the integrity and honesty of Kevin. Rudd proud Foreign Minister instead of keeping quite reacted as well predicted by Julia .. that was his mistake, he then was under her control as PM. Kevin should have remained as a Foreign Minister finish the task at hand and wait another 6/12 months when the political electoral noose was around Julia’s neck and then makes his move as a winner supported by all the Labor’s voters tired of Julia’s charades that are in synchrony with Abbot. In politics timing is of the essence, otherwise you loose. I made the same mistake with my divorce! … The Titanium Lady will brake in due time and then she will beg Kevin to come to her help with his electoral voters … I am more vicious I would let her rot in her own political spider’s nest, she is a woman loaded with bitterness, childless and pretend to love children at her age without one? .. Arbib is the faceless Master.

Don’t be feeling sorry for K Rudd.
He was all about K Rudd.
He had to be stopped, but pity Gillard could not have lost her job too.
Rudd doubled the budget for foreign affairs.
Spent $25 Million wining & dining officials on the UN to impress them to get a seat at the UN, which was of no value to Australia, but Rudd’s own career advancement at taxpayers expense.
As well he upped the Aid funds by $billions to impress nations to vote for him at the UN.
Rudd also collaborated in the fraudulent moral garbage of our time carbon scam, which is a socialist agenda & has nothing to do with emissions reduction.
Rudd also deliberately opened our borders & instead of having 4 people in detention when he came to office, we have had nearly 16,000 illegal economic opportunists arrive to sponge of taxpayers & its cost so far $4Billion.
Rudd is a delusional, pretentious, arrogant narcissist self serving man who was a tyrant to work for & had a contrived public persona.
The Heiner Affair is still unresolved relating to shredding evidence, when Rudd was in the Qld Goss Govt, with a 3,000 page list of allegations is now in the Senate awaiting further investigation delivered January 26 to every Senator.
Rudd is no better than anyone else in the Labor Party, all out for themselves.

Agree with you on Kevin. All he had to do was wait. Then when she lost he would be the “Messiah” again!
And since her win over Kevin, Julia’s vicious mouth knows no bounds.
But the rest of it – wow, nasty – I am (sadly) childless, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love children. Quite the opposite.

Suggested questions to be asked regarding “Conflict of Interest” matters: a) Arbib lives with Alexandra Williamson b) Ms Williamson works for Julia Gillard, c) daughter of Michael Williamson, currently under investigation d) Craig Thomson: If the NSW ALP paid his legal fees, who or what law firm represented him & who was the presiding Judge – a member of Julia Gillard’s x-legal firm, Julia herself or an x-union mate turned Lawyer-Judge? Also, point 5 is definitely worth asking about. The dereliction of duty, buck-passing, delays & corruption is mind-blowing! You’d have to be deaf & blind, or just plain dumb not to see how these parasites protect one-another. The biggest problem, is bringing them all before an unbiased & ‘honest’ supreme court Judge!

I doubt that we will ever know the full extent of the corruption going on inside the Labor party and its union backers. For every question you ask, they have a thousand ways of LYING. The T shirt message says it all WHY PAY A LAWYER WHEN YOU CAN BUY A JUDGE. Link after link displays total contempt for voters/taxpayers. How must the HSU members feel knowing their union dues were paying for sleezebags to use prostitutes ? Fair work Australia is a joke and needs a Royal Commission into it….and prosecutions with jail sentences…..we should all live so long.

It is a bloody disgrace that nobody from the Press, in politics or business leadership hauled Arbib over the coals for passing on Government information to people in the FBI that led to the first leadership spill that saw Gillard take over from Rudd. When questioned about it, it was like water off a duck’s back. all he said was that we’ve always had people passing this kind of information on. Under the Constiution that is treason. You dont have to be a Rhodes Scholar to work that out, its written in plain and simple English. Furthermore its betrayal of his own Party. So much for unity and brotherhood. If he has been up to no good on other fronts it wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Gillard, Shorten, pollies on both sides, journos (particularly fromThe Australian), all doing the Albert Dadon free Israel holidays at the behest of a lobby group: the Australia Israel Leadership Forum. I would have thought taking favours from an organization that represents a foreign country and then constructing foreign policy around that country’s wishes might constitute treason, but then you aren’t allowed to mention the “I” word in Australian politics or media except with fealty, or Michael Danby may come after you.

Why is it, that once they resign, they are no longer pursued by the police? Is a politician’s resignation like the Catholic Church forgiving your sins?
These corrupt politicians will only learn once they are prosecuted!
I wonder if Arbib’s daughter will ask her father why he might have to go away for a longer time in the future!

I have been assured that Mark Arbib is named in the ICAC inquiry in NSW into property development deals and links to the McGurk murder. My source assures me that Mark Arbib is linked to corruption paid for by National Australia Bank. Is this true Mr Arbib – are you paid by NAB to make deals? In your capacity as one of the ‘faceless men’ did you help to engineer an end to investigations into NAB corruption? As a victim of NAB employee fraud I would really like an answer as to how many politicians of all political persuasions are on NABs secret payroll and in receipt of dummy debit cards to receive their ill gotten gains.
In the words of another famous politician “please explain”

My goodness Rosie, these are amazing allegations. Do you have any articles (links) that are in the public domain? I have heard of this by rumour only, in that, this is one of the reasons that banks have cut back on development lending to get their book cleaned up.

Mr Obeid is on $130.540 a year with a house in Hunters Hill and trying to buy an $8.5 million dollar property.Which member of his family is a multi millionaire to afford that sort of purchase?.Is his local Labor party branch Terrigal by any chance?The batteries in my calculator must be low because however I compute it I still can’t get $130.540 to produce $8.5 million.Maybe he won it at the races!

In reply to Gerald Delahunty of the 1st of March. A relative of mine was a member of the NSW Police Special Branch and he told me how a person who was a prime minister in the 1980s who would collude with a newspaper editor to write an article which defamed him,the PM would then sue the paper.On the day of the trial a meeting would take place,before the start of proceedings, between the relevant parties and a six figure settlement was agreed upon.The politician would split half with the editor and the editor would split his half with the journalist He did this four times.That’s how a PM on $70.000 a year becomes a millionaire.
A very tall premier of NSW did it six times.
Brian Wilson was not powerful enough to perform this trick so he just extorted money from large building contractors.Still he managed to make a million dollars from the scam without all the preliminary rigmarole.
Nowadays a large paper and digital trail exists to bring these people to the witness box.

I would like to know more about the history and family history of Mark Arbib, Eric Roozendaal and Eddie Obeid? Where has their power and influence come from and Why? Also Why was Mark Arbib informer for the US Embassy?

I agree Arbib is on the nose. The ALP and the unions are incestuous maaates. If their tangle of family, friends, and friends of family and friends can ever be untangled I’ll be stunned!

It’ll be interesting to see what comes out in the wash as the cops get further into their investigations. Let’s hope we’re not all long dead with the Gillard government still not held to account for their corruption and these investigations uncompleted.

It can take a while for your comments to be approved as I also work. If I am at home and on the site it can be done straight away, otherwise it can be up to 12 hours. Once I have approved your first comment then other comments are automatically approved unless there is multiple links in the comment. I have approved it now.

Why does it surprise anyone that Arbib may not be what he would have us believe; a caring family man who does not want to see any more blood on the walls (metaphorically speaking) in the Federal Government infighting.

He came from the same woodwork in Sussex Street as Williamson, Obeid,Thomson. There they were hatched and there they were educated.

They have feathered their own beds, put their family and friends into government jobs and who knows what else will be revealed provided the police can actually investigate the allegations without interference from others.

In reply tp Curious on 28 Feb.The reason that they gained their status is through the right wing of the NSW labor party,the base of that faction is situated at the Terrigal branch of the party.Because so few people join political parties nowadays the number of members needed to form a Quorum is 7.It’s not hard to persuade the participants in the vote when a nice little sinecure in Sussex street headquarters is promised, whilst he is instructed in the ways of Brutus,as in the assassination of Julius Caesar,and technics of Machiavelli.The electorate are a tiresome encumbrance in their affairs.Now that the political landscape has changed in NSW a police investigation is now more likely.Bear in mind that these people have already envisaged this possibility and have a dirt file on those who try to move against them.

I read that they are puppets to help the elite and fool the masses while they are rewarded on sussex street! It is a matter of who has the integrity to bring them down? The media are NOT doing the job they should be doing for the people! Thank God for Wikileaks!

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/yank-in-the-ranks-20101208-18pwi.html
I would like to know if information given to the US government compromised our government. Even though we are allies, our own interests must come first. Given that there appear to be questions over Mr Arbib’s judgement in property dealings and the matter that Rosie has raised here in relation to the ICAC inquiry, I think that where there is smoke there is likely to be a great big bonfire being hidden. I think that Craig Thomson and Mark Arbib are in equal trouble with the police, but Thomson is being unduly protected because he is an MP, Mark Arbib, being a Senator could resign without bringing down the government.

After reading your link their I would have to say yes it does compromise our government. No doubt the Labor party leadership spills have been influenced by what Australia’s stance ( and/or Labor leaders stance) on the so called War on Terrorism is.

In reply to Curios on the 29th of February the key word in your post is Integrity.We need the establishment of Integrity Officers with the same powers of a royal commissioner or the NSW I.C.A.C.The financing of the I.C.A.C. is untouchable by parliament as opposed to the NSW Police Integrity Commission,the budget of which is such that of ten cases that are put before it there is only enough money to fully investigate one.
The second point you make in regards to the media depends on which journalists you follow.They can be divided into two types,those who work inside the tent and those that work outside the tent.Those inside the tent operate in a very cosy club.The rules are that you ask the politicians lots of easy questions,no hard one or your banished to the outside of the tent and you don’t end up getting a nice little job as a ministers press secretary or a position in academia.
Some form of parliamentary policing is essential to the integrity of our Murdochracy.The hacking scandal in the UK is proof that the police have no intention of enforcing the law, if any politicians are involved, until they are forced to by sheer embarrassment.

I believe that the only time that people have the power to change anything is when they vote. The basis of the peoples decisions are invariably a pack of lies and promises that they know will be broken (or at least modified beyond recognition – ask Wilkie). Deception, spin and ommissions are rife in the resumes of many politicians. I wonder if they are subject to as rigorous examination as volunteer carers of our aged and infirm.
In any organization, intellect and hard work will get people only so far. The rest of the climb requires political understanding, cunning and an ablitity to recognize duplicity and bullshit and make the most of these opportunities.
This latest leadership fiasco has all the intrigue of a master mystery author’s plot; and we can see it all but can’t do anything about it. It is the system.
Who will check the integrity of the proposed Integrity Officers? Who selects them?
Why are the Investigators of Thomson and Arbib so slow at bringing about understanding of the issues let alone the truth?
The answer is depressingly simple: the public service mentality and livelyhood and family welfare are subject to the whims and political ploys of their elected masters; and of course their greed.
Just as depressing is that the press percieve the need to rehash old news and present it anew.
I enjoyed reading the comments of others. They are alright and the system is all wrong. Keep up the info flow, some of us will at least be informed.

I honestly believe the majority of people who work in the public service and in the media are decent honest folk who hate a lot of what they have to do as part of their job. Then they go home and look at the bills piling up and listen to the family asking for stuff and they are torn between doing what is right and what they think they need to do.

I left a job like that but not everyone is that motivated or believes they have other options. but at the end of the day we all have choices to make and there are many in positions of power who could use their authority to do a clean out and a massive expose if they all put their minds to it.

The Rudd-Gillard show was a sham, I want to know what was really going on while the people were following the he-said/she said routine.

You are on track, just keep digging and thinking. Yep, we have to be subservient to the concocted war on terorism (‘BS’ 9/11) and follow ‘The Plan’ and our ‘leader/s’ have to be approved and relied upon to do as they are told and sucker Aussies into approving more invasions.

Just search: ‘General Wesley Clark Amy Goodman interview March 2007 The Pan to do 7 countries in 5 years ending with Iran’ (via Syria) or just use some of the title the references.

I would be asking Mark (and Roozendaal) if he had has lobbied local councillors to support rezoning or development of properties owned by the Boyds or Telmet, particularly Strathfield councillors.

If he had, then as a party official, with a huge say over ALP preselection for local council and state and federal parliament, he would have been both lobbing in support of a particular developer and at the same time be receiving a benefit from that developer.

The old saying that “truth will out” is comforting to many however because the truth has been suppressed by so many layers of our politicians for so long I think the fear for Australians is not that it “will out” but more what will be ready to replace the vacuum that it creates within the ruling Labor party which is our current government. As Rosie (ihatethenab) says all the threads are being pulled together which is good however I fear that the resultant quilt is going to be that big it won’t just cover one or 2 individuals but will cover union “officials”, local council people, judiciary and state government all the way up to federal government. If you suddenly simultaneously remove scores (if not hundreds) of people from these key positions resulting in the collapse of governing bodies and the legal system who or what is going to be ready to step in and take over? For those who love coincidence take a look at wikipedia’s entry for Eddie Obeid – apparently he resigned from office for family reasons (did Arbib plagiarise any parts of his speech), apparently Obeid has been the unfortunate “victim” of a number of business and household fires – along with Graeme Richardson he “suffered” the Offset Alpine Printing fire amongst 4 (repeat 4) others!! I’m not a policeman or lawyer so can’t interrogate willing canaries (read Gattellari) don’t have access to witness statements etc and instead rely on the internet and am astonished at all the links involving all the same people who are so clearly intertwined and all have the stink of possible corruption about them. So how come those that are in the know aren’t taking action…… has it become a bigger problem bordering on a matter of sovereign security? Is Australia in peril of an Arab spring without a single street demonstration or shot being fired and instead brought on by a sudden vacuum from within our legal and parliamentary system.

Hi Shane. I’ve just found your remarkable website courtesy of an email from a friend. Many years ago I had occasion to successfully battle a firm of corrupt lawyers on behalf of a friend and like you, gained some understanding of the legal system along the way. The corruption and attempts to pervert the course of justice by denying existence of certain documents, falsifying other documents and covering up on many fronts extended right the way through to the executive of the particular Law Society supposedly responsible for the actions of its members!

I too, was threatened with a defamation suit by some of the lawyers involved but when I invited them to please go ahead as it would be one way to finally get the truth out, they decided discretion was the better part of valour and I heard no more.

Congratulation on the articles I’ve read so far. One can now see why Juliar Gillard, the Labor Party and the Greens were so keen to have the Media Inquiry with a view to severely limiting the freedom of the press, bloggers and any other dissenting Australian voice. Now that the Finklestein (or should it be more aptly named Frankenstein) Report has been released, we must fight the introductions of any of the suggested draconian regulations. In my view, the gloves are well and truly and we are literally faced with a fight to the death to preserve the freedoms for which many of our forefathers and others have fought and died to protect – freedoms which we have previously been able to take for granted. Make no mistake, democracy in Australia is under its greatest attack in history and must be resisted at all costs.

I frequent many blogs worldwide and will do my best to link your site everywhere I post. .

Newspapers are for entertainment purposes, not to tell people what is going on. I believe it has been that way for many years now. We have to read far and wide, watch many documentaries and source our information from other sites, learning to hold many facts in limbo until we can join enough dots together. And Shane has done this brilliantly but sadly he had to do it the hard way.

The NSW Labour Right has long been considered a business model for the Cosa Nostra or so it seems. What a can of worms we have here and stretching right up to the so called highest echelons of this bunch of trash.
It is quite clear to me that Craig Thomson is a protected species after such a long lasting investigation which shows no sign of being resolved one way or the other.

Colin, now that Fink “The Stink” has finished his inquiry into free speech perhaps we can have one into politicians probity.Let’s hire a lobbyist to press our case just like Packer etc can afford to do.If we not able to then we should take our case to the anti discrimination board because we are being denied the equal opportunity that the one 1% are able, financially, to afford.

One wonders if the murky dealings behind the Labor party will ever be fully revealed and if the mainstream really care. We hear of one problem after another but not very often do we find out the end results or what action has taken. One has only to look at the run up to the current Queensland election Labor have such a legacy including Kaiser, D’arcy, Keith Wright, Fingleton, Nuttall, Patel, all in jail or have been in jail or on serious charges of breaching the law yet they are out looking under toadstools to see if they can find out anything true or not to throw at the opposition. They either think we can be hoodwinked, or have short memories It is time as residents and taxpayers of the nation started demanding accountability from our elected politicians. With modern communication we now have a greater outlet than ever to let our demands be known and to state our expectation of honest decent leadership be met.

This is the first time I have visited your site. As a once Labor voter I am very interested and can only wish someone will get to the bottom of all this and jail sentances will be served. As most Australians put the country first I wonder do you have any comments on the Liberal party. I would think it very unusual if one group of political animals were bad/dishonest/self nesting and all the others on the otherside with the same jobs were not. Maybe not to the same extent but there will be something.

Perhaps I am a bit late in this debate, but having read most of the comments, I would have to say that much, much more will come out of this matter including the Craig Thompson affair et al. Not to mention, of course, the Robert John Carr business. Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

I don’t know much about Arbib apart from what I read, but this site has given me a much broader perspective of the immoral, fraudulent and criminal goings-on.
I am a good judge of character usually and you only have to look at the man to see he is a shifty, power-hungry moron. Just look at his eyes and mouth…..his nose should be 3 inches longer for the obvious reason!

I have just come across this website…Piers Blog…
I am aghast that all this corruption can be going on and we as Aussies seem to be powerless to do anything about it….I am sick of hearing “you can protest by voting them out”……that is NOT the answer .dont the libs have someone who are following this charade..or are they too scared to offer an opinion…wouldnt question time be appropriate?……
I am not a scholar of politics but over the past few years have tried to digest our government and the way they go about their busisness….it seems to me that there needs to be an investigation into the Australian Labor Party and the Unions that protect it

One would think there would be enough ammunition here for an effective Opposition Leader to make mincemeat out of this apology for a government. Is there a reason for this absence of effort from Abbott? Smoking gun perhaps?

I am so disgusted with Labour and the wishy washy personalities of the Libs that I don’t want to vote………but should I not, I will be charged a fine. These cretins get away with all and sundry (no penalties) just by riding on the back ‘being seen’ as representatives of the public. After reading all these posts I am disgusted by ALL and I mean ALL who hold any official Australian Office and holding our great country to ransom – it’s greed, greed and more greed.

Fair work has submitted 3 people to the federal court but no criminal action what is going on if it was you or me we would have been in jail by now, people should be pushing for a royal commission into fair work this is garbage

Tony, From what I garnered out of tonight’s news the names have been given to the Federal Court and now the ball is in their court (pardon the pun). Interesting to see what ensues. I shall certainly be following this closely as I am sure will many others.

How long does this saga of Craig Thomson have to go on for!
Gilliar just wants to avoid this embarassment now but wait till the s…. hits the fan!!
She will have no chance to keep him in Parl as I see it

Tony.I applaud your call for a royal commission into the whole affair,but bear in mind that the devil is in the detail.The all important “Terms of Reference”are written by the ruling party which stipulates what can and can’t be looked into.As we have already seen the selection of the of the presiding officer is a tainted affair.The final report does not have to be released in full.Even if the suspects are implicated a decade long legal battle would ensue,the legal bills being met by their ever faithful political party.
The NSW Independent Commission against Corruption is a good example of legal oversight in these matters.It’s funding is untouchable by the incumbent government and a permanent head is appointed who is untainted by the stain of the present political milieu.Witness the tenure of Ms Irene Moss and the people that followed her.
Let us hope that the publishers of the HSU newsletter are the weak link in the armour.

How long can Workplace Australia carry on this facade? This defies credibility and even in Australia.I feel the heavy hand of Shorten and the ALP leaning on them to delay any nasty revelations. Shorten, after all, has his stooges in there “seeing to things”.

It appears to all of us this is just a huge cover up after seeing the report ftom Syd Morn Herald.
Talk about justice being done ,this is a total disgrace supported by Gilliar and her cohorts in Unions.

Even if any of the duplicitous cabal are found guilty for their crimes a first offence and a compliant judge will mean minimal punishment,I don’t think it will go to a jury because of all the publicity concerning the matter, thus an impartial panel may not be found.
If they are proven guilty it will be a first offence with mitigating circumstances such as unprovable health conditions(remember Alan Bond and his 10% defence) other vague personal problems,such as Mother,brother,aunty etc has been very ill,or an undiagnosed mental health condition such as brain strain (cranial tension needing remedial”massage”) caused by an undiagnosed case of “obsessive compulsive deception disorder”. .If this particular medical defence has not been used before then no precedence exists.Thus the”element of doubt”applies.
The “Golden Thread” that runs through our legal system is the “element of doubt”.If the defendant uses that in their defence then and acquittal is almost certain,(remember Ian Sinclair the leader of the federal LNP, his fathers Will was signed after the death certificate).
That defence is normally used in a jury trial.If it’s a judge only affair then an archaic point of law may be invoked,which will take a decade to resolve and become a “barristers banquet”.
If they are found guilty it should not be a blight on their career paths as there are plenty of corporations who would employ people with those sort of talents,plus the contents of their little black books with all the private Canberra phone numbers.
Expect copious quantities of amnesia to fill the stenographers print out.

An interesting article in todays Sydney Morning Herald,23/3/12,on page3 about a statement made by the Fink in regard to the fact that if you committed an armed robbery and stole a million bucks you’d go to jail for ten years,but if you stole the same amount as a white collar crime you would receive a lot less of a punishment because it was perceived as a paper crime and nobody was terrorised,coupled with the best liaryer that,stolen, money can buy and the humiliation of a conviction are punishment enough.
Plus the stripping of the ability to run a company for several years is so humiliating as to be worth many years in jail.For some tips on how to overcome this draconian punishment you may like to talk to Mr’s Adler of HIH insurance fame.Business boomed during her husbands incarceration and subsequent release under the crippling restrictions of his being banned from engaging in any commercial enterprises.
So the Finks words may be very prescient in the case of the three wise monkeys.
Only,a very,very, very,long time will tell.

It amazes me that why such blatent activity by fairwork that is obviously assisting the government is not called unlawful !.Blind freddy can see that,but when you know that Julia is directing the show and has done since its inception !!! one can only watch and see how far she is prepared to go into unethical and unlawful behaviour to protect her fairwork “baby”.Julia and Bill and the heads of FWA & FWO should be thrown out for whats been going on over the last 4 years.Justice Iain Ross has been appointed honoury presedent of Fairwork to give it a look of legality,sadly it is just a rotten ,tainted ship with an unethical and tainted crew !. Only my opinion of course but it is based on a year of intensive scrutiny in how the ship operates,no better than the people smuggling ships really.

Unleash Peter Reith with a royal commission!!! And use ADFIS to its full potential… an independent Investigation Service with constituents unsullied by Union membership… or… How sweet would it be to grab a few old-school Scotland Yard types out of academia over at the CTCP in Wollongong and fire them at corruption…

(Moderator: Deleted this part as it was off topic. Should have been put on another post)
Good journalistic rigour. Let us know if you find yourself ‘flagged’ on watch-lists next time you travel. 🙂

Any Mafia would be proud of the Union-Labor rats, like Police, Politicians don’t like to prosecute there own, after all it exposes the real problem. Time for a Royal Commission if anyone has the moral guts.

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